[Illustration: Engᵈ. by J. C. Buttre, New York.
_Wᵐ. Walker_]
THE
WAR IN NICARAGUA.
WRITTEN BY
GEN’L WILLIAM WALKER.
WITH A COLORED MAP OF NICARAGUA.
MOBILE:
S. H. GOETZEL & CO.
NEW-YORK: 82 WARREN-ST.
1860.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860,
BY S. H. GOETZEL & CO.,
In the Clerk’s office of the District Court of the United States
for the Southern District of New-York.
To My Comrades in Nicaragua
I dedicate this effort to do justice to their acts and motives: To the
living, with the hope that we may soon meet again on the soil for which
we have suffered more than the pangs of death—the reproaches of a people
for whose welfare we stood ready to die: To the memory of those who
perished in the struggle, with the vow that as long as life lasts no
peace shall remain with the foes who libel their names and strive to tear
away the laurel which hangs over their graves.
W. W.
PREFACE.
No history is so hard to write as that of our own times. Few, if any, can
free themselves from the fashions of thought and opinion which control
the daily life of their neighbors, and every one inhales to some extent
the vapors and miasms floating in the air he hourly breathes. The task
is even more difficult if a man attempts to narrate events in which he
has taken part. As the soldier, warmed by the heat of battle, dimly sees
through the dust and smoke of a well-fought field, the large movements
which decide the issue of the conflict, so he who has mingled in the
struggles of parties or the contests of nations, may not be as well
fitted as others to speak of facts moulded partially by his own will and
hand. But if the memoir writer be fair and discreet, he may contribute
materials for future use, and his very errors may instruct after ages.
The author of the following narrative does not expect to attain perfect
truth in all things; he merely asks the reader to give him credit for
the desire to state facts accurately, and to reason justly about the
circumstances attending the presence of the Americans in Nicaragua.
_March 1st, 1860._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE VESTA AND HER PASSENGERS.
The Revolution of 1854—Organization of Provisional Government—Grounds
of the Contest—The two Constitutions—Democrats and Legitimists—Siege
of Granada—Retreat of Jerez—Death of Chamorro—Policy of Honduras
and of Guatemala—Lower California Expedition—Its Objects and
Purposes—Its Termination—Contracts of Cole with Castellon—Crabb
Contract with Jerez—Legality of the Cole Grant of Colonization—Charter
of the Vesta—Her Difficulties and final Departure—Her Voyage—State
of Parties in June, 1855—Arrival of the Vesta at Realejo—Landing of
Passengers—Walker’s Visit to Leon—Castellon and Muñoz—The American
Phalanx—Its Organization—Expedition to Rivas PAGE 13